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TOP 6

Below are the top six local tax scofflaws on the state’s list of top 250 individual delinquent taxpayers as of mid-January: Michael Zurawin $16.7 million income taxes; Putnam and New York counties David Purdy $4.1 million sales and withholding taxes; Westchester County Michael E. and Nicole A. Smith $2.7 million income, sales and withholding taxes; Westchester County William E. Dring Jr. $1.6 million sales taxes; Putnam County David A. and Gia A. Walsh $1.3 million income tax; Westchester County Ioannis Apostolidis $1.2 million sales taxes; Rockland and Queens counties Source: New York Department of Taxation and Finance

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A former Lake Mahopac resident who is retired from the paint manufacturing business is No. 1 among the top 250 delinquent taxpayers in New York, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance’s website.

The state issued three tax liens — in 2004, 2006 and 2012 — totaling $16.7 million for income taxes Michael Zurawin did not pay. That’s nearly $9 million more than the second-biggest scofflaw on the list, Irving Goldstein of Brooklyn.

But the liens, or warrants, reflect the amount of money due at the time they were filed and not any subsequent payments made by the taxpayer or adjustments, penalties and interest.

Because of that, Zurawin’s current balance is $2.87 million, said Cary Ziter, a Department of Taxation and Finance spokesman. Due to privacy laws, Ziter could not provide any information about what has transpired between the agency and Zurawin. The list in which he tops all tax delinquents statewide is from earlier this month.

Zurawin, 69, said he earned about $1.5 million in his best year. He has spent about $800,000 for legal representation against the state and recently hired a new lawyer. “I don’t owe what they say I owe. I never made one-tenth of what they say I owe,” he said.

In all, 17 current or former Westchester County residents, four from Rockland County and three from Putnam County are on the list of the top 250 delinquent tax scofflaws, with rankings from No. 1 to No. 233.

David Purdy of Yonkers originally owed $4.1 million on warrants dating back to 2003 for unpaid sales and withholding taxes and now has a balance of $11 million. His debt is as an individual and “a responsible person” for Tri-State Materials Inc. of Mount Vernon and Action Redi-Mix Corp. of Yonkers. Both corporations were dissolved in 2009, New York Department of State records show.

Action Redi-Mix, a former concrete plant, is also on the hook with the state Thruway Authority for more than $228,000, including $16,000 in unpaid tolls and other administrative fees and fines, spokesman Dan Weiller said. The Thruway Authority collects 99.7 percent of all tolls, he said.

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Ninety-six percent of all taxpayers voluntarily comply and pay their taxes to the state, Ziter said. For the other 4 percent, the state “certainly (has) a robust effort in both criminal enforcement and civil enforcement,” he said.

Taxpayers can appeal determinations by the agency. The worst thing they can do is ignore a debt, Ziter said. “The sooner you can work out a payment plan and stop that clock from ticking, the sooner you’re going to stop the penalty and interest from accruing.”

Actor Stephen Baldwin, who owns property in Upper Grandview, pleaded guilty in March to failure to file state income tax returns — a felony — for three years. He has paid $300,000 of the $400,000 he owes and has until April to pay the rest.

Gerry O’Rourke, a member of Clarkstown Taxpayers, said it’s a “disgrace” that Baldwin and other tax delinquents don’t meet their obligations voluntarily. Not paying taxes puts a heavier burden on those who do pay, he said.

“They should be forced and more or less prosecuted for not paying taxes. We’re honest, taxpaying people and why should others flout the law,” he said.

Ioannis Apostolidis, who has one tax warrant in Rockland and one in Queens, owes $1.2 million in sales taxes to the state, putting him at No. 69 of 250. He owes the taxes individually and as a responsible person of Yota Restaurant, a Manhattan eatery which state records show was dissolved in 2011. He could not be reached for comment.

Based on current balances, Apostolidis is not the most delinquent state taxpayer in Rockland. Barbara and Joel Merbaum’s two warrants from 2002 (sales tax) and 2013 (income tax) totaled $489,898, putting them at No. 231 of 250. However,with penalties and interest the current amount owed is $2.56 million.

The Merbaums, who live in Pomona, said the taxes are bogus and date to 20 or 25 years ago, when Joel Merbaum was a manufacturer’s representative and sold products to a Lake Placid hotel. He said he has never been able to resolve the matter with the state on his own, and the couple doesn’t have funds for a lawyer.

Barbara Merbaum said the state should go after “people that deserve it,” not innocent people who don’t have any money. “They can drop dead because they’re never going to get a nickel,” she said.

Zurawin, who said he spent the first 11 days of his life in a French-based Nazi concentration camp, questioned why the state would have a public list that said he owed $16.7 million — an amount that has been reported by numerous media outlets — yet the current total is $2.87 million.

Zurawin said he is working on a film about his family and the Holocaust and was traveling on a private jet to Poland on Friday for a Holocaust commemoration. “The current status (of the case) is that I don’t owe them a dime and I’m suing them,” he said before taking off.